This invention relates to the field of housing, and more particularly to housing facilities which are not fixed in site, but are designed for ready transport from one location to another. Structures os this type are frequently referred to as mobile homes: they are mounted on wheels and arranged to be towed behind a traction vehicle. Units of moderate size may be drawn behind a conventional motor car: traction power for larger units is best provided by a truck, or a tractor for commercial trailers.
There is a contradiction between the requirement of limited dimensions, set when a home of this sort is to be transported on public highways, and the requirement for adequate living space when the home is being used for residence. A solution previously proposed, and taught for example in Graven U.S. Pat. No. 2,634,462, is to design the structure as a expandable one, convertible from one form to another as the needs of the moment require.
A grave defect in such structures has heretofore been that by reason of the numerous hinges and other joints the structure is far from weather tight, even when in fixed locations. This leads not only to problems arising from the entry of dust and moisture into the structure during transport, but also to serious heat leakage through the numerous crevices the structure provides.